I did it. I finally did it. I finally settled on a new name for my blog. According to Vanessa (she’s the one responsible for it), it’s the perfect name for the not-so-perfect pastor.

Actually, there are a few reasons I chose the name (and Vanessa only partially suggested, so it’s not ALL her fault) “Not the Perfect Pastor.” The first reason is, obviously, because I’m not perfect. That comes with being human, right? Another reason is that I didn’t want to set the expectations of the folks at my new church too high. I’ve heard Rev. Stafford’s been tooting my horn pretty good the last month or so, and with a name like “Not the Perfect Pastor,” when I fall off that perch he’s put me on, they’ll say, “Yup, that’s what we thought.”

I could say it really stems from not being the “perfect pastor.” Ever see this?

The Perfect Pastor

The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.
He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings.
He works from 8am until midnight and is also the church janitor.
The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car,
buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church.
He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience.
Above all, he is handsome.
The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers,
and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.
He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor
that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church.
He makes 15 home visits a day
and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
The perfect pastor always has time for church council and all of its committees.
He never misses the meeting of any church organization 
and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched.
The perfect pastor is always in the next church over!
If your pastor does not measure up,
simply send this notice to six other churches that are tired of their pastor, too.
Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of the list.
If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1,643 pastors.
One of them should be perfect!

Yeah! That does NOT describe me! I read that, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew that I was not the perfect pastor, so I just decided to call myself “Not the Perfect Pastor.”

All the humor (if you can call it that) aside, I suppose the real reason I chose the name “Not the Perfect Pastor” is that I’m Wesleyan. I believe in the whole idea of Christian perfection (or entire sanctification, if you prefer). I mean seriously, I told the entire Annual Conference that I was pursuing it when they ordained me. By Christian perfection, I don’t mean, in any way, that I’m the perfect Christian, or that I will live the perfect life, will never lose my temper, will never get frustrated, will never utter a bad word (even if under my breath), will never break one of the Big Ten, or do any of the other things we’re not supposed to do. What I mean is exactly what John Wesley meant–a heart full of love for God and love for neighbor. I want to grow in the love of Christ every day. The title of this blog will be a daily reminder that I’m not there…yet. I am on the journey. It gives me something to work toward. It’s an accountability measure, if you will. We’ll see how it works.

So, join me as I begin this new part of my journey. Let’s see if we can discover some new ways to fall more in love with Jesus and each other.

I’ve got a few more weeks as the District Superintendent of the Monroe District. There will be a few more blogs over there (I’ve got a few things to get off my chest before I leave) in the next few weeks, but come June 25th, I’ll be blogging here on a regular basis, and theunexpectedds will ride off into the sunset. 

Thanks for beginning a new journey with me this morning.

Until next time, keep looking up…